Exploring Low Internal Reorganization Energies for Silicene Nanoclusters

Abstract

This paper is a contribution to the Physical Review Applied collection in memory of Mildred S. Dresselhaus. High-performance materials rely on small reorganization energies to facilitate both charge separation and charge transport. Here, we perform density-functional-theory calculations to predict small reorganization energies of rectangular silicene nanoclusters with hydrogen-passivated edges denoted by H-SiNC. We observe that across all geometries, H-SiNCs feature large electron affinities and highly stabilized anionic states, indicating their potential as n-type materials. Our findings suggest that fine-tuning the size of H-SiNCs along the “zigzag” and “armchair” directions may permit the design of novel n-type electronic materials and spintronics devices that incorporate both high electron affinities and very low internal reorganization energies.